(The peanut dipping sauce was made separately with these ingredients):

These fresh spring rolls are so good. Rachel has made them a number of times at home and they were also the winning recipe at Junior League of Ogden's Get Fresh cooking competition.

Step 5: Celebrate!

Next, it was Bradee's turn to make Gai Satay, which is Thai style chicken satay with peanut sauce:

Voila!

I love that the girls got to take this cooking class with their dads:

The Gai Satay was so good!

Then Steve and Rachel made Tom Kha Gai (chicken in coconut milk soup with Thai herbs).

Lots of singing and dancing with Malee:

John and Bradee made Kwitiaw Nam (noodle soup with vegetables):

And then we sat down and ate everything:

Everyone was super happy with the cooking class, but that was just the beginning. Next we went to the market to buy ingredients for the other dishes.

The girls wanted to ride bikes, but one of them had a flat tire. So we walked:

Which was better for conversation anyways. Steve and John asked Malee lots and lots of questions about everything we saw.

Another spirit house:

Lots of other cool things:

Rachel had to use the toilet:

It cost money and I didn't have any and Steve wasn't nearby, so Malee gave us some change. (Toilet paper cost extra.)

You would never be able to find this market unless you knew exactly where you were going. It's not the sort of place tourists go.

Malee was one hundred percent in her element:

You could tell the people at the market all loved her:

They were not used to having their pictures taken:

But they were kind and obliged:

Lots of gross things, like buffalo skins:

Lots of pretty things, like limes:

I had left Lacie at the hotel with the four kids for a couple of hours and it was time for me to go back and take them lunch. I was just a little nervous about navigating Chiang Mai by myself. So I took this picture to document where I exited the market, in case I got lost:

And then I rode a tuk-tuk all by myself. We stopped at McDonald's, where I ran in and got lunch for the kids:

Then back to our hotel:

The kids were still swimming, but eagerly got out to eat their Happy Meals. (And play with their toys. Never underestimate the value of a Happy Meal toy when traveling.)

Lacie and I checked out of the hotel and loaded all of our luggage up in a truck.

This time the security guard had little whistles for the kids (looked like little pieces of a plastic straw?)

And yep . . . he showed them how to use them in his mouth and then handed them straight to the kids to put in their mouths.

We traveled back to Pum Restaurant & Cooking School and eagerly went inside to cool off in the air conditioning.

Rachel said when they got back from the market tour, Malee gave them frozen towels infused with lemon oil to cool off and that they were incredible.

Lacie and I enjoyed all of the leftovers. Everything was lick-your-plate-good.

While we were eating, John and Bradee made Gluay Buad Chee (bananas in sweetened coconut milk):

And then Steve and Rachel made Khao Nieo Mamuang (yellow mango with coconut sticky rice).

Malee asked me to take her picture and email it to her:

She was a lot of fun:

Malee loved Bradee. (And her hair.)

We ate as much as we could handle, bought recipe books, bid our farewells to Malee, and then caught a ride to the train station. We were taking the sleeper train to Bangkok!

Steve and I are just so photogenic:

Every time I took a family picture of the Thompsons, John said, "This will be our family Christmas card . . . oh wait, we're missing Sophie."

I wanted everyone to pose for a picture but Steve told me we didn't have time . . . and he was right.

As soon as we got on the train, they punched our tickets and took off:

I got the kids working on the school activities that I had packed (with Nerds as rewards):

As we drove through the countryside, we saw beautiful mountains and fields growing rice:

Not the best food on the train . . . here is the toast:

And french fries:

I think we might have been the most exciting thing on the train:

More rice fields:

After a couple of hours, it was time to transform our seats into beds. We weren't allowed to make the change ourselves; we had to wait for this man to come around and set it up for us:

It was all pretty slick. Each person had their own curtained area:

Our seats were located right close to the bathroom and sinks. (After Rachel used the squatter toilet, we realized there was a squatter toilet on one side and a regular toilet on the other . . . and by the way, it takes real skill to use a squatter toilet while riding a moving train.)

These were our views down both directions of the train:

I think it probably had something to do with the noise from the train, but everyone slept so well. (Everyone except for Steve, who didn't fit on his bed.)

I am a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, and yes, even a grandma. THIRTEEN years ago, Steve and I were young newlyweds, living in a 14-foot camping trailer in the mountains and saving money for our first trip to South Africa. Now we have a house full of kids and far too many responsibilities. Life moves fast and leaves us wondering how we got here. I have a lot of opinions and make too many bold statements. But even though it can take a while for me to come around, I am good at admitting I was wrong about things. Like DVR. And Heelys. And Macs. And skinny jeans. And blogs. But one thing is for sure, we will NEVER get another dog.